Pro Bono
by Sweetheart Seer
Summary: Annabeth Chase is a wannabe hotshot lawyer with a will to win and the inability to back down from a challenge. So when her best friend and coworker, Piper McLean, challenges her to take on the seemingly impossible case of Percy Jackson, a man accused of the decade old murder of his step father, who is she to refuse?
1. The Body in the Bay

Her pen tapped against the stack of papers on her desk, beating out an inconsistent rhythm between each sip of her coffee. Sip, tap, tuck hair back, repeat. The faint hum of traffic outside the window was driving her mad and paired with the flickering light up in the corner of the newly leased office space, she wanted scream. She could all but feel the anxiety rushing through her system. They hadn't had a case in, how long had it been? Weeks? Maybe even months? If they didn't get a case soon she was going to sn-

"Will you stop that?" Annabeth Chase, wannabe-hotshot lawyer, was pulled from her internal torment by an annoyed shout from her long time best friend, Piper McLean, daughter of the acclaimed actor Tristan McLean. She was leaning up against the spare desk shoved up into the corner, nest to the brand new coffee pot they had spoiled themselves on after the relocation. Her legs were crossed at the ankles and her mug dangled loosely from three long fingers, the coffee sloshing out with each lazy gesture she made. "You're making _me_ get anxious just looking at you," she said with a faint huff before taking a sip from her mug, on the side of which were the words 'She's Beauty, She's Grace, She'll Punch You In The Face.' a gift from her fiancé after he found out about her beauty queen past.

Annabeth sighed and dropped her pen, pushing back from her desk, chair squeakily rolling across the hardwood floors until it hit the wall behind her. "We haven't had a single case in months, Pipes. Months. I am getting stir crazy." She sunk her elbows into the arm rests of her chair and let her head fall into her hands, a bit dramatically. Piper snorted and pushed herself up to her feet. She walked over to her own desk and swiped up the small remote that worked the little flat screen television mounted up on the wall in the small space. After throwing herself down into her own chair, she clicked on the TV, kicking her feet up onto the desk. Annabeth glanced up when she heard the familiar static of the television being turned on. A scowl briefly crossed her face when she saw _them. _Those old, beaten up combat boots Piper insisted on wearing to work, seven days a week. They were easily not the most professional law firm in the Manhattan area, but what did that matter? It was hardly like Chase and McLean Law had clients just busting down their doors.

She sighed again and ran her hands through her loose blonde curls. "Piper, this isn't something we can just brush off. We're hemorrhaging money at this point. We need to find a case soon or even renting this damned office will have been pointless-" her biweekly tirade was cut short when Piper lifted up a hand, effectively silencing her as she turned up the volume on the television.

"At approximately 7:36 Wednesday morning, the skeletal remains of an unidentified corpse were pulled out of the Hudson River by a local fisherman after they became tangled in his nets. These remains have now been identified as those of one Gabriel Ugliano." The woman on the television's voice was small and tinny, seemingly far away, as she recounted the details of the most recent breaking news case. Annabeth sat up a bit straighter, her lips pursing as she listened, intrigued.

"Ugliano disappeared twelve years ago from his Manhattan apartment, leaving behind his wife Sally Jackson and a delinquent stepson, Perseus Jackson, who was the main suspect in his disappearance, but due to a lack of evidence and no body, his case went cold without any sort of conviction. With the identification of the remains, Jackson is currently being taken into custody for questioning as I speak," as the woman finished talking, remaining peppy the entire time, the image on the screen switched over from the newsroom to a shaky live feed outside a rundown apartment building where a struggling young man in grease covered jeans and a well-worn blue shirt was being dragged from the front steps by two burly looking policemen. Over the sirens and yelling of the press, a few of his shouts and outcries could be heard.

"Let me go! I didn't do anything!" He hollered loudly, pulling against both the officers and the silver cuffs clamped tightly around his wrists. The camera panned around, following his movements as he was shoved into the backseat of a cruiser, Piper let out a low whistle, causing the blonde to tear her eyes away from the screen to look at her.

She quirked an eyebrow as she glanced over at Piper. She shrugged and absently began braiding a few strands of her hair. "He's pretty damn easy on the eyes, don't you think?" She drawled and wiggled her eyebrows in Annabeth's direction. Annabeth let out a groan, hitting a few buttons on the remote to put on captions.

"Are you trying to set me up with a potential murderer?" She never seemed to give up. Piper had a nasty tendency to try and set her up with literally any available man she saw, and apparently she had reached the bottom of the barrel. She gave an innocent little shrug and spun around in her chair.

"He's cute. You're single," she gestured as she spoke as if it made perfect sense. Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"He's going to be behind bars for the rest of his life, " she cut Piper off with a pointed glare, turning her gaze back to the television screen, only to see that the coverage of the story had disappeared and instead something about a new exhibit at the aquarium was filling the screen. She sighed and turned off the TV. "I remember hearing about his case when his stepfather went missing twelve years ago; it got national coverage. The reason he wasn't arrested fell down to the prosecution misfiling evidence against him and the fact that the body was never found. The case was deemed impossible," she said with a sigh, resting her elbow on her desk and her chin in her hand. Whoever managed to prosecute him would have one hell of a reputation. Business as far as the eye could see… She let her head fall down onto the desk. A certifiable pipe dream.

Not too long after she dropped her head down, she heard the familiar sound of wheels rolling across hardwood and felt Piper's arms flopping onto her desk. She peeked up over her arms and raised an eyebrow, only to see Piper grinning her usual wicked grin. The last time she had seen that grin it had ended in a mugshot. "Impossible, you say? That sounds like a fabulous case to take on…" She continued to grin as she looked at Annabeth.

She snorted and sat up, pushing her hair back once again. "They don't need any more lawyers to try and persecute him. He all but confessed on numerous separate occasions! It's all but sealed and delivered to the local electric chair." She shook her head. Piper snorted and stood up, kicking her chair back into the general vicinity of her desk.

"But, does he have any lawyers trying to defend him? I mean, imagine if we successfully convinced the jury that Perseus Jackson was innocent! We would have business until the day we died." She waved her hands a bit wildly as she spoke, some mad idea forming in her head.

Annabeth shook her head. "No. We are not going to take on this case. We do not need to start up our new business with a failure on our hands." She needed to nip that damned idea in the bud before Piper ran down to the police station herself.

She frowned and walked around the desk to grab ahold of Annabeth's chair, hovering down over her, pouting. She covered her eyes and began shaking her head. Those goddamn puppy dog eyes. Piper was the most convincing person she had ever been around and it was rather obnoxious at times. She heard Piper sigh and felt the weight of her hands leave her armrests.

"Well, if you think you can't win… Who am I to try and persuade you otherwise…" She spoke with an easy drawl, almost wistfully. She knew what she was doing, she knew she was trying to coax her into it, but the publicity could be great. And if they did win, well, maybe they would start off with a great reputation. Annabeth stood up suddenly, her chair rolling back into the wall.

"You know what, McLean, fine, I'll defend Mr. Perseus Jackson, and I'm going to win," she declared triumphantly while slamming closed her open laptop. She smoothed out her skirt before pulling her curls back into a sloppy ponytail high up on her head, a few curls falling loosely around her face. "I need to get a move on if I want to beat the media shitstorm that is no doubt already swarming the station," Annabeth muttered and shrugged on the smart blazer over her green blouse. "I trust you can manage things here without me?" She pointlessly asked Piper as she walked towards the frosted glass door. Piper looked up from fiddling with her engagement ring. Ever since Jason had proposed, she could hardly tear her eyes away from the ring that adorned her left hand. Hell, sometimes even Annabeth had trouble looking away, the stone was gorgeous.

"You know I can hold down the fort, don't worry," she assured the blonde, waving at her as she hurried out of the office. Annabeth's heels clicked against the sidewalk as she hurried down the street, her blonde ponytail swaying rhythmically with each step. The firm was only a few mere blocks from the police station, which apparently made impromptu pro bono cases much easier.

The closer she got to the station, the louder the buzz of the press became. They were such pests sometimes, like vultures feeding on any scrap of information they could get their hands on. People always said lawyers were heartless bottom feeders, but clearly they had never met a reporter. Media vans were making traffic impossible. Reporters, lookie-loos, and police officers crowded the steps leading up to the station. Annabeth sighed and braced herself before trying to squeeze her way past the crowd and up into the police station itself.

The crowd was hardly any better inside. She actually recognized quite a few of the faces in the room, many of them being other lawyers. Of course they would be there as well; she could never seem to catch a break. Amongst the crowd, she was able to pick out the face of Clarisse LaRue. The two had shared many of the same classes while still in law school and needless to say, they did not get along.

"Excuse me, pardon me, sorry, move!" The agitated woman said as she squeezed her way up to the receptionist's desk with an absurd amount of difficulty. She opened her mouth to speak but the woman behind the desk held up her hand to silence her before she could so much as breathe.

"Press or lawyer? If the former, scram, if the latter, get in line," the woman snapped at Annabeth exasperatedly, not so much as looking up from her paperwork, as though she had already asked that very same question numerous times that morning. Annabeth offered a slight prayer of thanks to whoever was up in the sky looking down on her.

"Mellie, it's me, Annabeth Chase," she said lowly, offering the frazzled looking woman a smile. The petite woman's brown eyes softened when she saw who she was speaking too. The pair had a history that continuously proved useful.

Mellie, at one time, had been the assistant to the eccentric weatherman Adam Gale. After he had a mental breakdown on the air, the station had to hire a lawyer to legally be able to fire him due to contractual obligations. Thanks to Piper and Annabeth, the station had won the lawsuit and even gave Mellie a rather large sum of money for dealing with Adam. She had found a new job at the police station and tended to help out the two young lawyers whenever she was able, which wasn't often, but she really did try. Plus, she had a bit of a crush on the great Tristan McLean. An autograph here, photograph there, and the batting of Piper's long lashes and they had a permanent fixture aiding them at the police station.

"You should have said that from the start," Mellie said with a soft laugh, smiling at Annabeth. "I take it you're here to see our newest arrival?" She asked, though she already knew the answer. It appeared everyone was there to see Perseus Jackson. Annabeth nodded, a sheepish smile on her face. "Annie, you know that technically I shouldn't let you through to see him, he hasn't asked for a lawyer yet," her face fell as she listened to Mellie, "But, considering you're already here, and I am simply assuming you are taking the case pro bono-" she looked up at Annabeth once again, who quickly nodded, "then I see no problem with letting you speak to your client before he has the chance to incriminate himself."

Annabeth grinned viciously, "Mel, I could kiss you right now." The receptionist let out a tinkling laugh as she stood up slowly, her pregnant belly looking as if it was about to pop. Upon seeing her heave herself up, Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Mellie, sit down this second. Just tell me where he is and I can go find him, I am not going to make you walk," she scolded her lightly. The receptionist laughed and shook her head softly as Annabeth berated her.

"Third interrogation room on the left, here's your badge, don't tell anyone I let you sneak past," she added with a conspiratorial wink as Annabeth darted off, the blonde calling over her shoulder to invite her to the baby shower as she hurried away.

It was astounding, stepping from the crowd of people into the relatively empty hallway. Annabeth felt like she could breathe freely, how Mellie handled it all day she had no idea. The woman hung the visitor badge around her neck as she counted the doors on the left, though she assumed it was the one with an officer stationed outside it. One, two, three… Smiling thinly, she walked over to the door.

"Hello, I'm Annabeth Chase, Mr. Jackson's lawyer, I would like a moment alone with my client." The officer outside the door, a behemoth of a man with a…was that a rainbow tattoo, on his left bicep, looked at her presumptuously. Annabeth flashed him the badge with another smile. He sighed and hauled himself up from the chair, only to step inside the room. He came back out a moment later with two officers following him- one looked particularly disgruntled officer had a swollen eye.

"Go ahead in," the officer with the rainbow tattoo said gruffly, "we will be on the other side of the mirror." She took a moment to straighten her skirt and make sure her blouse was properly tucked in, fixing her hair and lipstick. With another deep breath, she put on her poker face, void of any emotion, as she swung open the heavy door and stepped into the steel plated interrogation room.

"Who the hell are you?"


	2. Wolfish

Annabeth blinked a few times as she took in his brusque words, raising one of her eyebrows in indignation. She hadn't quite expected the roughness of his tone, but then again, he had just been taken into custody like a common criminal for a murder that took place over a decade beforehand.

"Annabeth Chase of Chase and McLean Law, I'm your lawyer," she said dryly, letting the door fall shut behind her as she stepped forward into her room. The sound of her clicking heels resonated throughout the room, echoing off the metal walls. The double sided mirror spanned almost an entire wall and even though she couldn't see the police, she was sure they were watching her.

"I never asked for a-" The man began, looking at her in a bit confusion before she held up her hand, her eyes darting back to the mirror where the police were watching. The last thing she needed was for Mellie to get into any sort of trouble for letting her through to see her unofficial client. Thankfully, he seemed to understand what she meant and shut his mouth, maybe he wasn't entirely a hopeless case.

Annabeth took the chair across from him, the sound of metal scraping against concrete making her teeth grind. Up close, she found that she couldn't quite disagree with Piper. He wasn't too bad to look at, but then again, he was also a probable-murderer. His eyes were alight with what she could only compare to green fire, blazing and burning in anger, though she could hardly blame him. His hair fell in his face and he seemed to be long overdue for a haircut. He reached up to rub his stubble covered jaw as though it hurt. A faint purpled bruise was blooming on his skin. The way he stared at her reminded her of the way the wolves stared, harsh and intense, without any sort of mercy as they waited to eat you alive. She gave him another once over, maybe being eaten alive wouldn't be so bad- and clearly she had been spending far too much time with Piper. Annabeth shook her head to clear her mind.

"So, Mr. Jackson," she began, folding her hands on the stainless steel table. Before she could continue to speak, he cut her off.

"Percy," he corrected her, "no one calls me Mr. Jackson, unless, of course, they are trying to arrest me," he added with a sardonic smile. She met his smile with a thin one of her own.

"Pardon my mistake, _Percy_. Now, what all have you told the police? Anything incriminating? Please tell me it has been nothing incriminating," she questioned, throwing in the last sentence exasperatedly. She'd had to defend clients in the past who could do everything but keep their mouths shut. She glanced over her shoulder, looking back towards the double sided mirror as if looking directly at the police officers behind it with her stormy gaze.

Percy snorted and rubbed at his jaw again. "I am not as stupid as I look you know," he grumbled and watched her with that wolfish stare, it honestly sent a chill down her spine, though she would never admit to that. It wasn't hard to assume he was capable of murder when he stared like that.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I have to ask that," she informed him and stood up, "and that is all I needed to hear." The woman turned to face the mirror, as if signaling that she was done speaking to her client. Within the minute, the two interrogating officers stepped through the door, the particularly angry one was holding a can of soda up to his swollen eye.

"Your eye is looking a little swollen, Ultor. Get in a fight with a little girl again?" Percy asked, smirking at the police officer. The one he addressed as Ultor slammed the soda can down on the table, leaning over to get up in his face.

"Watch your mouth, punk. Just be glad I can't charge you with attacking an officer," he growled lowly, his eyes alight with rage. The second officer, a much calmer looking detective whose name tag read "H. Datura," placed her hand on his arm to draw him back. Whereas Ultor radiated anger, Datura seemed to exude an aura of peace, her eyes warm and soothing.

"Seth, calm down," she murmured, talking him down from a rampage from the looks of it. In all honesty, it was impressive how she calmed him with little to no effort. He glowered angrily at Percy, but took a step back. Annabeth cleared her throat loudly.

"Are you two planning on charging my client with anything? If not, you legally cannot continue to hold him and we will be on her way," she said cloyingly, her already pencil thin smile wearing even thinner. The two officers turned to stare at her and Percy leant back in his chair in amusement.

Seth Ultor opened his mouth before closing it, glaring. "No, we aren't charging him with anything, but don't leave the city, we may call you back for more questioning," Datura said firmly, as though making it painfully obvious that they would, in fact, be calling him back for questioning.

Annabeth motioned for Percy to stand. "In that case, we will be on our way now," she said smoothly, walking past the two detectives and out of the interrogation room, her new client close behind. As soon as they were out of earshot from the detectives, she began to speak.

"Antagonizing detectives who are trying to convict you of murder is not the smartest thing to do," she said dryly, walking hurriedly down the hall, only turning to face him before reaching the door that led to the main area of the precinct. He shrugged, his hands shoved in the pockets of his grease covered jeans.

"Ultor is an asshole, worked the case the first time around and has had a problem with me ever since," he said with another shrug. Annabeth sighed, he was not going to be an easy client. She opened the door and was grateful to see that the area had been cleared of any reporters and excess lawyers who had been swarming the area less than an hour beforehand.

As she led Percy out, though he seemed just as comfortable in the precinct as she was- a disconcerting thought- Mellie called over to her from the receptionist's desk. "Annie, there are reporters everywhere outside, so be careful!" She said kindly, flashing the young lawyer a sympathetic smile. Annabeth sighed and offered a small thanks before taking a deep breath and pushing open the doors, her poker face slipping on in preparation for the numerous reporters and excess of the press that hung from the station like spiders who were ready to feed on any information that might possible tangle into their webs, and, god did she hate spiders.

"Don't say a damn word," she muttered under her breath to Percy, though she doubted he would. As soon as they stepped onto the concrete steps, she was startled to find that the reporters knew her name. How had they found out who she was- her train of thought ventured off track when she saw Clarisse standing off to the side, a smirk on her face. She scowled. Of course she would have leaked her name, She must have seen her sneaking into the back of the precienct.

"Ms. Chase! Ms. Chase! Are you defending Mr. Jackson against the murder charge?"

"Mr. Jackson! Did you do it?"

"Any statements?"

"Over here! Ms. Chase, over here!"

The yells and shouts of the reporters were a cacophonous symphony that made her ears ring and her teeth grind. She _really_ hated spiders. When one of the reporters for the local news stations shoved his microphone in her face, she turned to him fiercely, stopping on one of the steps that led down to the sidewalk abruptly.

"My client will be making no comments at this time, or anytime for that matter. And there have been no charges issued at this moment, and I do not appreciate the insinuation that there will be any murder charges pressed against my client," she added sharply. Behind her, she could feel Percy's wolf stare as it bored down on the reporter. He really wasn't making any friends in the media, that would come back to bite him later.

Before anyone else could attempt to interview her, Annabeth grabbed hold of Percy's arm and began leading him down the steps roughly before walking away quickly, heading towards her office. Percy tugged his arm away from her as soon as they were out of sight from the reporters.

"You sure know how to handle the media," he said, just a hint of awe sneaking into his tone. Though she wouldn't say it aloud, she was almost as surprised as he was to see how deftly she managed the onslaught of reporters. She sighed heavily and kept up her brisk pace, not looking back to see if any reporters were following her, not looking over to meet his eyes as he spoke.

"And you don't. If you want any sort of sympathy, we will have to work on that. It's a wonder they didn't arrest you twelve years ago with the way you stare at reporters. You look like you may murder them," she said, her words pithy and caustic. He gave a slight shrug once again. God, he shrugged constantly as if everything was a breeze. He was facing possible murder charges and the most he could do was shrug like a petulant child.

Annabeth sighed as she led him into the office space she and Piper occupied. "We have a lot of work to do if we want to repair the public image that you have spent twelve years systematically shattering into thousands of pieces," she said with a sigh. Why did Piper have to dare her to take his case? When the two of them entered the firm, Piper was busy on her laptop, eyes closely watching the flickering screen, a smile on her face. The familiar voice of her fiancé, Jason, could be heard over the Apple's speakers.

"I love you more," she said playfully, her beautiful face lighting up in a smile. It never astounded Annabeth how Piper had won so many beauty pageants in her teenage years. Hell, before the "borrowing" the BMW incident, she was slated to be accepted as California's entrance into the Miss America pageant.

Jason's voice chimed up from the laptop. "No, I love you more," he challenged. It was sickening at times, how cutesy the two of them could be, but, she could understand it. Jason was currently stationed at the Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs and the distance was getting to the two of them. Annabeth cleared her throat and Piper shot up in the chair, her eyes widening.

"Babe, I have to go, I'll skype you later? Love you," she said hurriedly, blowing a kiss at the screen before she snapped her laptop shut. Percy was shifting from foot to foot uncomfortably, probably from the little love fest that had just gone on, or maybe it was because Piper was staring.

"Pipes, meet our newest client, Percy Jackson," Annabeth said with a dramatic flourish of her hand. The aforementioned client gave a crooked smile and slight wave of his hand, no doubt hoping it would stop the staring.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Percy," Piper said after regaining her tact. With a smile, she walked over and extended her hand for him to shake, which he ever so warily did. His posture was slumped as he ran a hand through his shaggy hair. Annabeth motioned for him to take a seat in one of the thriftstore armchairs- no leather though, one of the downsides of sharing an office with a vegetarian.

"If we want to have any fighting chance if you get accused, we are going to have to hear the entire story, from the beginning, leave nothing out whatsoever," Annabeth ordered as she herself went to take a seat in her own chair, opening up her laptop so she could transcribe what he said. Percy furrowed his brow.

"Why? I didn't do it-" Annabeth cut him off.

"The first thing you need to know is that I don't care if you did it. I don't care if you slit his throat and drank his blood, all I care about is proving your innocence. I am never going to ask you if you are innocent. So, start from the beginning."


	3. The Whole Truth

"My mom had been married to Gabe for as long as I could remember," Percy began, leaning back in the chair with a sigh. His fingers drummed on the arm of the old chair, rapidly. "But I never thought of him as a father type of figure; I hated him. I used to call him Smelly Gabe behind his back." He paused when Annabeth looked at him dubiously.

He folded his arms defensively, as if just waiting for her commentary. "Smelly Gabe? That's original," she said dryly, an amused smirk pulling at the corners of her lips. Percy glowered at her.

"I came up with the name when I was a little kid, cut me some slack," he grumbled before beginning to resume his story. "Anyway, I hated him. He was always a real jerk to me and my mom. He was nice for about the first thirty seconds we knew him then he showed his true colors, and they weren't pretty. He bullied me all the time, stupid stuff, but it pissed me off, like taking my money, stinking up my room with his cigars, leaving his muddy boots all over my stuff. I'll never know why my mom stayed with him," he added and shook his head. His left leg bounced incessantly as he spoke, as though it was physically impossible for him to sit still for more than a few seconds at a time.

She studied him, from his bouncing leg, drumming fingers, and generally jittery aura. "Tell me about your mother then," Annabeth asked after a moment of contemplation. If "Smelly Gabe" was really as awful to the Jacksons' as Percy said he was, she could call on his mother in his defense. It was always a ploy that pulled at the jury's heart strings. Percy actually smiled, an honest to god genuine smile. It was the first one she had seen since meeting him. No wolfish undertones or snideness.

"My mom, Sally Jackson, she deserved to be married to a millionaire, someone who would treat her like a queen. When she was married to Gabe she still worked at Sweet on America-"

He was cut off by an excited inhale of breath. "Isn't that the candy shop in Grand Central Station?" Piper chimed in. He nodded, a faint smile forming on his lips. While the pair fell into a brief conversation about candy and the merits of _blue _candy, in particular, Annabeth stood up and walked over to the dinky coffee pot in the corner, pouring herself a mug. She took a sip, letting it scald her tongue and burn its way down her throat, before moving back to her swivel chair and taking her seat.

When he saw her sit back down, Percy cleared his throat and quickly resumed his recollection of his life all those years ago. "She worked at Sweet on America, but she always wanted to go back to school. When she was younger, she'd had to drop out because her uncle got sick and she had to take care of him," he added, almost sadly.

_He really cares about his mother, _Annabeth thought, _that could easily work in his defense if he is convicted. Everyone loves their mother, and more importantly, everyone loves their mother enough to kill for her._

"But, Gabe never would have let her go back to school, he was controlling like that. He worked at an appliance store, but I never saw him work. I just saw him playing poker with his buddies, drinking beer, making me and my mom's life a living hell." Annabeth sipped her still burning coffee. "But, I was never around much as a kid. I bounced from boarding school to boarding school- most of them were for troubled youth," he said in a much quieter tone, as though he was embarrassed and ashamed of that fact. His cheeks were flushed and he looked down at his lap, rubbing at what looked to be a tattoo on his inner arm anxiously, a seemingly nervous twitch.

Piper gave him a reassuring smile, trying to put him at ease. "Don't worry, I went to one of those too-" she paused and grinned wistfully, "I stole a BMW to try and get my dad's attention when I was fifteen." Percy looked up at her with a new type of respect, sitting up a little bit straighter as he started to speak once again.

He pushed a hand through his messy hair and took a deep breath. "I never meant to get into trouble, it just followed me around, so my mom worked herself to the bone to try and keep me on the straight and narrow but I never could manage it. It just got worse when I was home. I couldn't stand to be around Gabe, I hated bullies and he was the worst one I ever faced. When I was twelve I saw something I shouldn't've. Gabe and my mom had gotten into another fight, I dunno know what it was about, but there was so much yelling. When he raised his hand, my mom flinched." Percy set his jaw, like talking about it was making him want to kill Gabe. _Maybe he wanted to kill him all over again, _her mind added. He tightened his calloused hands into fists.

"I don't know why I never noticed it before. I don't know how I never put two and two together. He was hitting my mom and I was too busy being off at some boarding school for delinquent rejects to stop him." His leg began bouncing faster. "I pushed him away from her but he pushed back. He was bigger than me and there wasn't a damn thing I could do. That weekend I went out and wrecked his '95 Camaro to try and get him to focus on me instead of my mom," Percy's words faltered and he looked down. "It didn't work. Instead, he pressed charges against me and it went on my record. I was given two parole officers, Officer D and Officer Brunner, to make sure I didn't do it again. But I wouldn't have even if I could have."

"So, Gabe had it out for you after you wrecked his car?" Annabeth questioned, her fingers flying across the keys of her laptop as she typed out his story for future record. Percy nodded and loosened one of his fists, drumming his fingers on the armrest. When his arm shifted slightly, the tattoo on his arm became more apparent. It was a rather angry looking trident, as if it had just recently been done.

"I had trouble protecting my mom because I was gone so much, but when I came home when I was fourteen, I wasn't a scrawny little kid anymore. When he pushed me around, I pushed him back. When he thought I wasn't looking, he raised a hand to hit my mom-" Percy hesitated.

"Percy, go on, this is a safe place," Piper tried to reassure him, her voice soothing. It even made Annabeth relax, she had the tendency to do that, it was a real skill.

He let out a heavy sigh and rubbed his bruised jaw. "I broke his wrist. I didn't think I could but I just snapped it. He started yelling and screaming at me and lunged at my mom again, but I decked him and we ran, went up to Montauk, to the beach there. The next morning when we came back, he was gone. Neither of us were, uh, too broken up about it. My mom reported him missing after the forty-eight hours were up, and that's when the police started snooping around, watching everything I did like I was gonna slip up or something." He shrugged.

"After the case finally dropped, I tried to get on with my life, but no one wants to hire the guy who was publicly accused of murder. I managed to finish high school, barely, and then I got a job at my buddy Leo's garage. I've been working there ever since. Sometimes if I need extra cash I give surfing lessons down on the coast, but now that everyone thinks I'm a killer again, those days are probably over with," he muttered. Annabeth watched him closely. As good as she was, she couldn't read him. She couldn't tell if he was telling the truth. If she remembered correctly, the evidence the prosecution had stacked against him the first time had been damning and he had only gotten off on technicalities.

"Are you sure that's everything? You didn't leave anything out?" She asked firmly, training her stormy eyes on him. He nodded.

"I've told that story enough times to know if I have left anything out." Percy looked up at the two young lawyers. "How much is this going to cost me? I don't have much to pay you guys with…"

Piper flashed him her signature charming smile. "Don't worry, Percy, we took this case pro bono," she said kindly. Annabeth tried to smile as well, but whenever she tried to be as charming as Piper she just felt sharkish, like the smile didn't reach her eyes. Percy looked at the two of them warily, she couldn't really blame him though. He had good reason to be suspicious of their motives. They had just swept in and offered to represent him, to defend him against possible murder charges, for free. Even Annabeth had to admit that the whole thing was a bit sketchy.

"Why are you two doing this? Nobody does something like this without having their reasons," he said defensively. Annabeth sighed and set down her steaming mug of coffee.

"I'll level with you Percy, your case is an impossible one. The public hates you, you terrify them. Not to mention you just barely got off the murder charges last time. Piper and I, well business is slow these days, and winning this case would be a major help," she admitted with a shrug. She hadn't gotten into law out of the goodness of her heart. She had a passion for architecture, but when she applied to the program, she had been turned down and took the second best option, law.

"So… I'm just a business ploy?" He asked slowly, sounding just a little hurt.

"That's the way the world works. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. Now, until any charges are pressed, you need to lie low, don't make any scenes. Keep yourself holed up in your apartment, go to church on Sundays. People will be watching you, everyone loves a good murder trial," she murmured, rattling off orders as she thought aloud.

He ran a hand through his hair and bit his lip, looking at the two women who had their eyes trained on him. "I think I can do that, I'll try at least," he finally said. Piper smiled sweetly at him, but Annabeth remained stony.

"Don't try, just do it. I'm trying to keep you from the electric chair here. I have a reputation to uphold," she said. Her face was marred with an unhappy smile. He was going to be trouble, she could feel it. "Here is my number, Piper's number, and the number for the firm's landline. Call us if you need anything," she murmured while jotting down the numbers of a slip of paper to hand to him. He took the slip of paper from her well-manicured hand, carelessly shoving it into his pocket. His spine seemed unable to support his full weight as he stood up, slouching over with a sigh.

"I really appreciate this," Percy added after a lull of silence, "I mean it, they would arrest me for sure without this," he motioned around the office and smiled sheepishly.

Piper was once again staring at her ring, but she managed to look up at Percy with another smile. "Don't make us regret it," Annabeth said, her voice sharp and warning. He rocked back on his heels, looking like the cat that ate the canary.

"I promise I'll be good."


	4. Idip- Oedu- Ah Fuck It

"Lawyers? You were ambushed at the precinct by a couple of lawyers- _joder!_" Leo cut off his sentence, his profanity closely following a loud thud. He continued to grumble as he pushed out from underneath the car on the old, beaten up creeper. Percy gave a snort, leaning up against the rusted tool chest, his arms folded across his chest, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Before he could even elaborate any further, Leo was back under the car, muttering about something indistinguishable.

"Lawyers," Percy repeated with a shake of his head. He shoved himself away from the chest with a loud creak, running a hand over his jaw. Jesus, it still fucking hurt from where Ultor had decked him. Behind closed doors, officers could do whatever the hell they wanted. He wandered over to the mini fridge in the corner of the shop and grabbed a can of Coke, popping the tab. "Didn't even ask for one, she just, like, _showed up_." He hopped up to sit on a workbench, taking a long gulp of the mildly warm soda.

Leo pushed himself out from under the car again, grease covering his face. "She? Was she pretty?" He grinned cheekily before rolling back under the junker once again. "Because I'm single!" He yelled out, his words muffled. Percy rolled his eyes and set the can down next to him. He had been too busy focusing on the fact he was being convicted as a murderer once again to pay any attention to if the lawyer was _pretty. _She had a nice face, but he hadn't paid any attention to that either.

"Does that shit even matter, Leo? I got free lawyers who are determined to prove I'm not a murderer for publicity reasons. What could go wrong." He looked down, absently picking at the tears in his grease stained jeans. His inner arm was still sore, inflamed a bit. A trident was outlined with thick, bold strokes, his most recent tattoo, courtesy of Nico from Undead Designs next door. "I can't go through with this shit again. It ruined my fucking life." He shook his head and finished his drink in two more swigs. He bounced his leg up and down to try and release some of that pent up anxious energy.

Either Leo hadn't heard him, or he had nothing to say, because the garage was soon filled with only the sounds of metal hitting metal and faint Spanish curses. Percy looked around the garage, at the beaten up signs on the walls, the tools scattered about, the unfortunate singe marks on just about everything. If it wasn't for Leo giving him a job, he wasn't sure what he would have ended up doing.

He'd never had many friends to begin with, before everything went to shit, before what happened with Gabe. Too hotheaded, too much moving, too poor, friends didn't come easily. But, he'd had a few, a couple other guys who skateboarded, the interchangeable stoners who hung out behind the backs of all the schools he went to. They weren't great friends, or even good friends really, but they were something. They were getting chased by angry security guards after skating on private construction sites, they were long drags on sloppily rolled joints during sixth hour, they were getting tattoos in the back of a sketchy shop with unsanitized needles, they were trying so desperately to fit in he would have done anything. But they weren't really friends.

After the police came knocking, they dropped him without any remorse, no texts, no nods on the street when they rode by, nothing. He was a pariah once more, only this time, they saw him drenched in red. All the teachers who had tried to fix Percy Jackson, Lost Cause Extraordinaire, gave up their attempts, letting him brood in the backs of classrooms, flunking him without even checking his assignments. People crossed the street to get away from him, his neighbors made sure to lock their doors when he passed by in the hallway, they wouldn't even take the elevator with him. He was the fucked up boy who killed his poor stepfather.

Poor stepfather. The thought was almost enough to make him laugh. Like those neighbors couldn't hear what was going on behind closed doors when he was off at school. Like they couldn't hear his mother crying, Gabe yelling, flesh hitting flesh, heads hitting walls. They hadn't done a damn thing. Eyes closed, hands over ears, they found ways to ignore what was happening and then had the gall to blame him when they thought he solved the problem. He had hated all of them. His mother was the only piece of good left in that apartment building, still was.

She was a saint. After he came home, peacock feather bruises marring his face, blood dripping from his nose, she would sit him down, clean him up, give him a cookie- dyed blue. Despite her tired eyes, laugh lines on her face, brown hair streaked with grey, the undeniable weariness that hung over her, she always made sure he was okay. He tried so hard to stay on the right track, but everything pulled him left.

He was nineteen when Leo found him, hungover and strung out, in a cheap diner at four in the morning. If he hadn't slid into the booth next to him, twitching like he himself was a tweaker, he wasn't sure how his life would have turned out, but could almost guarantee it wouldn't have ended well. Probably dead in a ditch somewhere. He gave him friendship, a job, a place to stay before he could get back on his feet. He had seemed to be a bit of a loner himself, glad to be liked by someone, even a possible felon.

"Hey, _pendejo," _Leo hollered as he rolled out from under the car, hitting the door with his fist to create even more noise. He effectively managed to pull him from his stupor, even tossing a dirtied grease cloth at his head for good measure. Percy ducked and held up his middle finger, hopping off the counter. "Stop thinking about the pretty lawyer- who you should totally set me up with, by the way, still single and ready to mingle-" he wiggled his eyebrows, laying on the creeper as he looked up at Percy, grinning, "but that's beside the point. Start my baby up and let's hear her purr." He disappeared under the car again as Percy swung himself into the driver's seat, which conveniently- or maybe inconveniently- had no door. He pulled the key from the the front console and stuck it into the ignition, holding his breath as he turned the key as...absolutely nothing happened. He exhaled a sigh and shook his head.

"Nothing, Leo. Whatever you're doing hasn't been working," he muttered, hitting the hood of the car agitatedly. For a few months, Leo had been working on "his baby," a 1967 Maserati Ghibli he had found in the junkyard. He'd almost cried when he found it. Only one door, no hood, painted some gaudy gold, ruined interior, no tires, busted windshield. It had seen better days. He had made Percy drag it back to the shop where it became his pet project, so any extra moment was spent working on his baby. It had come a long way, he had to admit that, but it was still sort of a piece of shit- not that he would dare say it aloud. Hell, he half expected to have Nico tattoo a portrait of the car right below the black dots and dashes of morse code he had on his wrist.

Leo was still grumbling to himself as he rolled out from under the car. He wiped his hands off on his jeans, adding yet another stain. He pushed his unruly curls from his face and bounced up and down on the balls of his feet. "Come on, let's go do something, get something to drink," he announced, raising a finger up in the air as if making some grand declaration. Percy gave a snort and a shrug, shoving his own hands in his pockets as he nodded for him to lead the way. He followed also out of the shop and down the sidewalk. "Come on, let's go see if Nico wants to come," he spoke as he nodded towards the tattoo shop that sat across the street.

Large, comical _Día de Los Muertos_skeletons covered the grimy window as well as the words "UNDEAD DESIGNS" written in blocky font. Leo had already started banging on the shop door by the time Percy crossed the street. He had his face smushed up against the glass as he yelled, his voice muffled.

"Nico! You here? We're going to Dan's, wanna come? Oh and in case you didn't hear, Perce is probably going to jail for the rest of his life, but let's celebrate!" He continued to yell, rapidfire. Percy rolled his eyes, leaning up against the lamppost as he shook his head. After a few more minutes of yelling to no avail, Leo sighed and stepped away from the door.

"Must be out with Will again," Percy said with an easy shrug of his shoulders. He shoved his hands in his pockets and pushed himself away from the lamppost. He gestured with his shoulder in the direction of the hole in the wall bar they tended to frequent.

After a short walk, Percy brooding, Leo chattering, he pushed his way into the bar, sliding into a seat at the counter. "I gotta use the little boy's room, order me something," Leo announced, rather loudly, as they entered, before darting off towards the seedy bathroom. Percy gestured in a small salute as he hurried away. He held up to fingers, and soon enough a couple of beers were sat down in front of him. He took a long swig, and then another, and another, before Leo sat back down. His bottle was empty before no time. Leo raised an eyebrow at him, cracking a few peanuts on the countertop. He stayed silent, not saying anything about his friend's drinking. He knew not to, but would always stop him when he had drank too much. Most of the time at least.

After his, fuck, he had lost count, his head was swimming and everything seemed to blur together. Leo had ducked out to answer a phone call, something about a new part for his baby, hopefully it was a fucking door. He split open a peanut while he waited for his next drink when a few voices drifted towards him.

"Hey, ain't that the dude they arrested this morning for murder or something?" He heard someone ask. Percy scowled and glanced over his shoulder at the pair, narrowing his eyes as they stared at him. He clenched his jaw.

'You got a problem or something?" He slurred his words just a bit, pushing himself to his feet, leaning on the bar for support. The second man smacked his friend's arm.

"Dude, it is him!" He exclaimed, his eyes glassy- clearly he was not on his first drink. Percy clenched his hands into fists, wobbling just a bit. "Hey, hey man, why the fuck did you kill your step dad?" He asked with a laugh, bumping into his friend.

His friend, the one in the jersey of some sort, the letters were swimming too much for him to read, laughed alongside his buddy, nodding. "M-Maybe he had that, oh, fuck me, whassit called? An Idip-Oedupe- th-that thing where he wants to fuck his mom," he hooted, slapping his friend.

Before he could stop himself, Annabeth's word coming back into his mind, his fist flew into the man's jaw. Then, he just saw red.

When he came to, he was in a drunk tank, hands in cuffs, the left side of his face throbbing beyond all belief. He pushed himself up, ignoring the puddle of vomit, when the door swung open. "You get a phonecall," the officer spoke gruffly, his eyes piercing. Percy swallowed thickly and waveringly stood up, shuffling out into the hallway where a payphone stood.

Who the hell was he supposed to call? Leo? His mom? Nico? It was then he remembered the card in his pocket. He punched in a few numbers and bit his lip as the dial tone continued, seemingly forever. As soon as he heard someone pick up, a shrill yell coming through the receiver, he swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Annabeth, I fucked up..."


End file.
